The Link Between Caffeine and Memory

Consuming 200mg of Caffeine May Provide Enhancements to Long-Term Memory

There are now studies revealing that caffeine could provide valuable health benefits. According to a study published in “Nature Neuroscience”, consuming a 200mg dose of caffeine after sessions of learning just might help you retain data for the long-term. Researchers say there are many possibilities for caffeine to enhance long-term memories.

Caffeine Source: Cup of Coffee

The main sources of caffeine for Americans are coffee and teas. The most recent numbers provided by the United States FDA, Food and Drug Administration, state that Americans consume 300mg of caffeine every day. There are 100 million daily coffee drinkers in the United States. As of July 12, 2014, 54% of Americans over 18 years old drink coffee every single day. The coffee industry has grown to be an 18 billion dollar industry.

Caffeine Source: Tea

Although coffee is so popular, there are more people drinking tea than coffee. Not all teas contain caffeine. There are 2 billion men and women who drink tea daily. 3,000,000,000 tons of teas are produced worldwide every year. 519 million pounds of teas are imported into America. Every day in the United States there are 1.42 million pounds of teas consumed.

2 billion men and woman drink tea daily.

Caffeine effects on the memory have not been studied in detail as of yet, but recent research was conducted at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, led by Daniel Borota. This research concluded that at least 200mg of caffeine was required in order for it to enhance the memory and it must be consumed after learning. When the subjects were tested 1 hour before the test, after receiving caffeine, there was no improvement in memory performance.

The investigators had compared results of the same test on subjects given 100mg, 200mg and 300 mg of caffeine. Memory performance was best when given 200mg compared to the results of 100mg, but memory performance seemed to be the same for both 200mg and 300mg. The change in memory enhancement occurred when given 200mg of caffeine.